Sunday, February 24, 2013

Bly {Part 7}

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Bly tugged at Xander's collar, fussing over him for what she counted was the fifth time.
He smiled and softly took her hands, "Bly, am I going to speak before a council, or am I going to going to meet my maker? I'm confused the way you keep primping me like a worried mother"
She frowned, and gave his collar one last straightening. "You must make the best appearance you can. The last human most of the council members have met was King Adan"

Funny, what a coincidence.

"My what a long time that was" Xander didn't seem nearly as concerned as she had hoped, and Bly gave up.
"Bly Uaine, daughter of Councilman Arten, and Erulissë from the house of Siusan." Her name was called, and she stepped forward between the huge doors of the council room.
Once, she had commented to Tenzin that giving reports always felt like she was going on trial, and he had laughed, And said she would get used to it someday.
But, standing here, in front of the Queen and King's throne, the council men's seats spreading out like a half moon around her, she noted she still felt nervous.
"Captain Xander Bolivar, human, of the Royal guard of Aragathia. Please join Bly Uaine"
Xander came by her side, and she could see him gawking at the room from the corner of her eyes.
She mentally groaned. Great. Now he will appear to be a simpleton.
There was a small hubbub of whispering as he entered the room, surely discussing his colors. They had become to much more clear since entering Voronwë, even she could see the significance of them.
She used the small wave of quiet chatter, and whispered, "at attention, Soldier"
The result would have been comical, if she wasn't so tense. Xander instantly stopped staring about the elegant, yet naturally built room, and stood straighter, his chin held high, though not high enough to be assumed prideful.
Bly caught the Queen's smile as she leaned forward, "Bly Uaine, please recount the happenings of your trip to quell the small dispute between Voronwë and King Felix"
Bly began her narrative. She told of the trip there, the quick negotiations, how even she had considered them too easily made. Their return trip, the ambush, and waking in a prison cell.
The councilmen whispered more, and she paused respectively, but Queen Bellasiel gestured for her to continue.
"Captain Bolivar came my rescue, putting himself in danger to get me safely from Aragathia" she told of their escape, and the meeting of Nairi and Adonis. Their journey and meeting Nithron, Kaymele, Prid and the fairies.
There was noticeable stir when she mentioned the fae folk, and she noticed Councilman Featherheart's eyes light up at the mention of his son.
"Do you mean to tell us, the Fairies have left their tree? All these centuries, they are finally beginning to enter the world again?" Bly's father spoke from his council seat, and she nodded politely.
"At least three of them have"
She then recounted their finding the Ortov, and slaying it. Nairi and her own near death experiences. The arrival into Revelin. Xander's acceptance into the Revelin guard. Nairi's near capture by the Dragons, her illness returning, their trek here (though she left out meeting in Ou Een, she just spoke of being saved by Yahweh) and their arrival.
As she bowed respectively, King Meglidur asked if the council members had any questions.
"Bly," Councilman Featherheart rose, and cleared his throat. "Do you believe Felix used these 'negotiations' as a way to lure us to him? And what do you believe his reasonings are?"
She shook her head, "I truly have no idea why he would want us there. But I believe, yes. It was a finely crafted lure"
Xander shifted beside her, and raised his hand slowly. "M-might I speak, oh Council and Court?"
The Queen smiled, and inclined her head. "Granted"
"Before I rescued Bly, I managed to overhear some interesting bits of conversation between Felix and Andromeda they w-"
"Andromeda?" King Meglidur stood, his hands tight fists.
"Y-yes, my liege. Andromeda is Felix's right hand, and, it is rumored, his lover"
Meglidur nodded, and whispered to the Queen, who asked Xander to continue, though a certain look had entered their eyes. 'So it seems I'm not the only one unsettled by her. All they heard was her name, and I can sense the growing strain of the room...' Bly noted, she looked around, noting the slight flicker in the councilmen's colors, the slight cautiousness in their color tones.
"They were discussing Tenzin and Bly...something about Tenzin's heart wasn't adequate. But Bly's was. I have no clue what they might have been discussing, but it sounded, to me, like they didn't want Elves, per se, but an Elf. One elf"
Silence reigned for a brief moment, and the King whispered yet again to his Queen.
Bly was clueless, what could Felix and Andromeda want with one heart?
A small cough came from the corner of the room, and all eyes turned to a thin Elvish woman. She wore the silver and blue of a scholar, and she had the timid look of a field mouse. Brown hair pulled back into a loose bun, which had soft tendrils of lightly curled hair escaping it to frame her narrow face. She had the altogether look of someone too distracted to care much about her daily appearance.
She was a scholar alright.
"If I-I might s-speak...K-King Meglidur, Q-Queen Bellasiel..."
"Please do, Scholar Alora" Bellasiel smiled softly, encouraging the timid woman.
Bly felt for her, she knew how it was to lose one's tongue. She had been so stricken the first few times of testifying that she had just gaped like a miserable fish while Tenzin had recounted their story.
"Head Scholar Lithônien had r-researched s-some interesting, eh, interesting w-writings on v-various dark m-magics. Ones that d-didn't draw their p-power from Yahweh, but other, forms" she emphasized the "Other" and a dark look crossed the Council's faces.
"H-he gave it up, m-moving to other t-topics, but I r-remember one potion...it struck me as b-barbaric..."
"And?" A councilman drummed his fingers on his chair arm, a sure sign of anxiousness.
Bly couldn't blame him, the very topic of dark magics frightened her as well. It wasn't a loosely taken matter.
Alora seemed to have gathered a bit more courage about her, and spoke more firmly. "It was a potion to extend to longevity of life. On it's own, I wouldn't have been so appalled, Oh Council and Court. It was the ingredients that caused my stomach to turn"
All eyes were on the Scholar, and Xander appeared deep in thought.
"It required the souls of an Elf, a Fairy, a Mermaid and a Ceridwen, the four races that hold the most runic power"
The room was quiet, not even Bellasiel or Meglidur consulted together. It was an almost haunting silence. One where Bly could almost feel the swirling thoughts of the others in the room.
Alora shifted nervously, and finally King Meglidur spoke. "This news....it is quite disturbing. Captain Bolivar, have you anything to add that might approve or debase this possibility?"
Beside her, Bly felt Xander shift, and his hand brushed against hers.
"Felix grows old, it is very likely he desires to continue ruling. It is a widely whispered suspicion he used base actions to gain the throne. He could very easily have objections to ending his rule"
There was a general sound of agreement, and Bellasiel addresses Alora, "have Head Scholar Lithônien look into that potion, perhaps we might discover more about it"
Alora bowed, and hurried out, and the Elvish Queen turned her attentions to Bly, "We have a personal matter to discuss with your companion, Bly Uaine"
Xander looked petrified, but Bly gave him a shaky smile, and exited the council chamber.
She stood out in the balcony overlooking the bay, watching the little boats bob and float around like leaves in a puddle.
The news Xander would receive today would be something that would change his life forever.
And hers too.
Though she tried insisting it would change nothing, she knew it to be otherwise down inside.
A sound of distant rumbling caught her attention, and she looked towards the sound. A low dark cloud was coming, a storm. While Voronwë was known for it's fair weather, storms still came.
Bad weather was coming to Voronwë from the direction of Revelin.
Something caused a shiver in her spine, though she knew not what.
But the sense of something ill stayed with her, and she couldn't shake it away.